Expect Long Metrorail Delays This Weekend

Sporting events, track work to make a mess of your commute

It is a tough weekend for riding the Metro rails, and riders should brace themselves for long waits.

Thousands of sports fans are taking Metro to home games for DC United, the Capitals and the Nationals. Throw in some weekend track work and there will be delays anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, depending on where you're going.

Metro is doing work on four of the system's five lines over the weekend. That means single tracking in certain areas. Riders are being warned to build extra time into their trips.

If you're traveling on the Orange Line between the Courthouse and Foggy Bottom stations, add 40 minutes.

Folks using the Blue Line between Arlington Cemetery and Foggy Bottom should also add 40 minutes.

Expect an extra 30-minute wait on the Red Line between the Medical Center and Friendship Heights stations. And on the Green Line between College Park and Greenbelt, add 20 minutes to your ride.

A death at the Cheverly station on the Orange Line meant more delays Saturday, as trains were forced to single-track after a man was struck by a train.

Metro hopes to complete all the work and have things back to normal by Monday morning.

No work was conducted the previous two weekends because of the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

More details from Metro are below:

Orange and Blue Line Switch Replacement

Metrorail customers traveling between the Court House and Foggy Bottom Metrorail stations on the Orange Line, and between the Arlington Cemetery and Foggy Bottom Metrorail stations on the Blue Line should expect lengthy delays this weekend and add at least 40 minutes to their travel time because Metro will be installing a new rail switch at the Rosslyn Metrorail station. A switch is an intersection of the track, where trains can “switch” from one track to another, depending on their destination and route. Trains will share the same track between these locations from 10 p.m. Friday, April 16, to closing (midnight) on Sunday, April 18.

Throughout the entire weekend, all Blue and Orange Line trains will depart approximately every 20 minutes from the Largo Town Center, Franconia-Springfield, New Carrollton and Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metrorail stations. For people traveling between the Rosslyn and Stadium-Armory Metrorail stations, trains will operate approximately every 10 minutes.

Red Line Track Upgrades

Metrorail customers traveling between the Medical Center and Friendship Heights Metrorail stations should expect lengthy delays this weekend and should add at least 30 minutes to their travel time because Metro will replace aging rail fasteners with new ones to stabilize tracks in that area of the Red Line. Trains will share one track between these locations from 10 p.m. Friday, April 16, to closing (midnight) on Sunday, April 18.

Throughout the weekend, all Red Line trains will depart approximately every 20 minutes from the Shady Grove Metrorail station. To help expedite rail travel into downtown Washington, every other Red Line train traveling toward the Shady Grove Metrorail station will terminate at the Friendship Heights Metrorail station and will return to the Glenmont Metrorail station. For people traveling between the Friendship Heights and Glenmont Metrorail stations, trains will operate approximately every 10 minutes.

Green Line Rail Replacement

Metrorail customers traveling between the College Park-U of Md and Greenbelt Metrorail stations should expect delays this weekend and should add at least 20 minutes to their travel time because Metro will be welding new rail on the tracks in that area to replace an old stretch of track. Trains will share one track between these locations on Saturday, April 17, and Sunday, April 18, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
 

Contact Us